Strangle Proteins in the Ribosomal Cradle, Selectively

If a fully formed protein is known to mediate disease, it might seem like a good idea to keep the protein from developing in the first place, to nip it in the bud, so to speak. And, in fact, agents have been found that can prevent protein translation by stalling the ribosome, the general-purpose molecular machines that synthesize proteins from messenger RNA transcripts. Unfortunately, these agents are like the proverbial monkey wrench in the works. They disrupt the ribosome no matter what protei